THE CHRONICLE OF THE BLACK SWORD

Hawkwind is one of the very few classic bands that were actually better in the 80's than in the 70's. I have always found Hawkwind's 70's releases noisy, simplistic, and generally sloppy; badly produced, often lacking in melody, and most of the time settled in a repetitive beat with some dull electronic experimentation on top. There are a few exceptions though, and the Levitation album from 1980 is the prime example. I was impressed with Levitation and its well-performed, well-produced, melodic tunes. While nothing else in the vast Hawkwind discography can come even close to the high quality of Levitation - which stands head and shoulders above any other Hawkwind album in my opinion - The Chronicle Of The Black Sword is my second favourite Hawkwind album and a good one in its own right.

The songs of this album are based on hard rocking riffs and vocal melodies and this is actually more of a pure Hard Rock album with spacy interludes than a Space Rock or Prog Rock album per se. The interludes make this album varied and the conceptual lyrics make it interesting. The quality of the music remains pretty consistent throughout and no single track stands out as more powerful than the others.

One of Hawkwind's best and most memorable albums

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